US Rep. Chris Gibson, with eye on Syria, presses local issues

ALBANY, N.Y. -- U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, who debuted a new campaign website and YouTube video Tuesday, says the top issue facing New York's 19th Congressional District right now is the Syria situation but that he has his eye on agriculture and other policies as he gears up for a re-election run.

"It's very important that we pass and enact this farm bill" now pending in Congress, the Kinderhook Republican said. "It's important for rural America, it's important for upstate New York communities."

Gibson said the bill addresses dairy farming as well as fruit and vegetable producers.

"We're talking about crop insurance reform. ... We've got investments in terms of research," he said. "We know there's a direct correlation between that research and the yield of our crops.

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"And not for nothing, but the Cornell Cooperative Extension often wins those competitions, so we get the second-order positive effect for our economy and also helping at the same time our farmers."

He said the bill under discussion addresses, among other things, farm-to-school and farm-to-table initiatives, Lyme Disease and broadband Internet access.

Gibson spoke after being asked at a recent Albany appearance to describe the top issues facing his district in the year ahead.

He opened by reiterating his opposition to any U.S. military action against Syria and urging that diplomacy and international action be used to contain the crisis sparked by chemical warfare allegations. (Gibson made his remarks prior to this week's slight cooling of world tensions over the Syria crisis.)

On the federal budget debate, Gibson said it's imperative to find a "pro-growth, fiscally responsible replacement for the sequester."

"We've cut the deficit by over half in a relatively short period of time," he said.

"We're on the right trajectory there. We need pro-growth policies that will also help up get back to a balanced budget."

Gibson, 49, a retired Army lieutenant colonel with a Ph.D in government from Cornell University, first was elected to Congress in 2010, defeating incumbent upstate Democrat Scott Murphy. He was re-elected in 2011, after district lines in the state were redrawn, over Democrat Julian Schreibman, an Ulster County-based lawyer.

Gibson does not yet have a Democratic opponent for the 2014 election, but speculation has centered on Sean Eldridge, a Shokan resident and relative newcomer to the area who is the founder and president of Hudson River Ventures. His husband, Chris Hughes, is a co-founder of Facebook whose personal fortune is reported to be $600 million.

The 19th Congressional District comprises all of Ulster, Greene and Columbia counties; most of Dutchess County; all of Delaware, Sullivan, Schoharie and Otsego counties; most of Rensselaer County; about half of Montgomery County; and a small piece of Broome County.